London, August 23: Asking the organisers to scrap the Champions Trophy, former Australian opener Matthew Hayden asserted that holding the eight-nation tournament along with a World Cup every four years is totally meaningless.
”Why have the Champions Trophy (a 50-over tournament) when you’ve already got a 50-over World Cup?” Hayden wrote in his column for The Independent.
”There are strong lessons to be learned from the success achieved in other sports, such as the quadrennial cycle of football World Cup and UEFA European Championships.
”Cricket should follow this with a similar cycle of T20 World Cup and ODI World Cup. To maximise coverage these should be played in odd-numbered years. Major football competitions and the Olympics are in even-numbered years. The Champions Trophy should be scrapped,” he added.
The left-handed batsman, who play for Chennai Super Kings in Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament also feels that the conflicts between the IPL and traditional cricket can’t go on as it will embrace the new wave. ”Franchise Cricket, as played in the Indian Premier League, has revolutionised the global landscape of cricket. Speaking as a player, there is nothing more exciting and challenging than the opportunity to play amongst the best players in the world.
The T20 format is high-impact, colourful and attractive. I truly believe that the formula works, and that IPL, the world’s premier franchise competition, is here to stay,” he quipped. ”The main point of conflict between the IPL and the established game is in scheduling, particularly the subsequent clash of players’ contracts. This can be avoided in the future by creating a two-month window each year- I’d hold it in March and April – when other forms of the game take a back seat- no Tests, no World Cup cricket and so on,” he informed. Hayden was also of the view that that the Twenty20 World Cup should not be held every second year. ”Playing the World Twenty20 every other year is too much,” he said.
Hayden said Test cricket can be rejuvenated by a World Championship.
”If Test cricket is to be the number-one form of the game, the public, players and financial backers around the world must be engaged. Grounds around the world are regularly almost empty, and not just for lesser internationals- the spectator figures when the two top teams in world cricket played each other, in Australia’s tour of South Africa, were really poor.
”I propose the establishment of a World Series, or a ‘World Test Championship’ if you like, which would be on a rolling calendar with finals every two years,” he added. He further added to generate more interset of spectators in the longer version of the game, matches between heavyweights and minnows should not be held.
”When a team like Australia play a team like Bangladesh in a Test series, you’ve got problems. It can’t be fun for the underdogs and it’s no challenge for the favourites. Just as importantly, it’s not a good spectacle,” he said. The 37-year-old former Test player asserted that there are too many confusing one-day competitions in the International Cricket Council’s calender and the burly Queenslander feels that the number of ODI matches should also be reduced.
”We’re about to play seven one-day games against Australia- that’s right, seven, after the battle for the Ashes has been settled. Will everyone be glued to each and every one of those? It’s too much. Surely five is enough in any series. ”Equally, there are too many confusing one-day trophies. World cups are the key shop windows for world cricket. They provide dramatic entertainment within a global ‘event’ inclusive of smaller nations, all factors which help promote cricket to new markets. They are also a significant revenue-generators,” he added.
—–Agencies